Fairport to Kelley's Island

July 11: We planned an early departure with the fishing boats. The fishermen didn't show before we left at 0645. The wind is very light and we are motoring towards Kelley's Island, about 60 miles away. This will take us offshore past Cleveland and into the west end of the lake.





There are similarities and differences between this trip and our last time this way in 2005. Both times we had smiling, bearded young men who were an enormous help getting up the locks. In 2005 we pushed on at full speed, Kingston to Port Dalhousie and Port Colbourne to Pelee Island directly. Stopping overnight is definitely more restful, but strangely enough, takes more than twice as long. Last trip there were more deadlines, target times and logistics to manage. This time we left the Georgian Bay Regatta as a maybe, so the only urgency is getting to some more northern scenery. Last time I dawdled my way from Windsor to Sarnia, so we should be able to get through that section faster unless the current is really heavy in the rivers.

Let me repeat for anybody who wasn't listening: hot running water is a huge plus for comfort and convenience, much more than I expected.

1515: We're in 47 feet of water and land is barely visible on the horizon. This really is the shallow end. The wind picked up about 1400 and we are broad reaching at almost 6 knots with 15 miles to go to Kelley's Island.

We got in about 1800 at the Seaway Marina and wandered in to "downtown" where we got a good dinner, but struck out on groceries, as the market had minimal produce and no meat but sausages.

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